Pro Tube Baitfish Step By Step

When I was a child, I got a big box full of LEGO. I loved to play with it for hours! Ok, my mom was often not so happy, because after playing, my room looked like after an explosion of a bomb. :-)

I still „play“ with a kind of LEGO today. Well, it’s more like a fly tying LEGO. I’m talking about the tube fly system from Morten Bundgaard, owner and chief creative of Pro Sportfisher. Like Lego, everything fits together perfectly. It’s just so fun to be creative and to find out, how much is possible.

For this step by step of the Pro Tube Baitfish, I used several products of Pro Sportfisher, especially the new Pro Raw Weights made out of tungsten and the brand new Pro Softheads, which are awesome. Perfect alternative to epoxy and uv resin for cool heads.

Materials:

  • Pro Flexitube clear
  • Pro Soft Sonic Disc clear
  • Pro Raw Weight
  • Pro Softhead
  • STS-Dubbing Fluo Flame
  • Ice Dub Pearl
  • Arctic Fox White
  • Pro Angelhair HD Pearl Green
  • Senyo’s Laser Dub White and Olive
  • 3D Eyes

Put the Pro Flexitube on the Pro Tubefly-Needle and do some turns with the thread. Split the thread and put some STS-Dubbing ind the gap and spin the bobbin. After twisting, give the dubbing a good brush with your velcro and wind it around.

Put a little bit of super glue on the thread and do some turns. Cut of the thread and put a clear Pro Soft Sonic Disc on the tube. In front of the disc, attach the thread to the tube again.

Take a bunch of fox and tie it in directly in front of the disc. Take some strands of Pro Angelhair HD and tie them in, too. At last, take another bunch of fox, slightly longer than the first bunch, spread it a little bit and tie it on top.

Split the thread again, put some ice dub pearl into the gap, spin the bobbin and brush the twisted dubbing. Wind the dubbing around, brush it again and put the Pro Raw Weight in front of the dubbing. This will give the tube a nice balance with a little bit jigging.

Take the white Laser Dub and tie it underneath the tube, then so the same with the olive Laser Dub on top. If you want, you can give the dubbing on top some dots or stripes by using a permanent marker.

Make a short whip finish and cut off the thread. Put the Pro Softhead on the tube and border the tip of the tube with your lighter. Just do a little drop of super glue into the recess and glue in some 3D-eyes of your liking. That’s it, you got a great baitfish tube! Just attach a single hook like the Owner Mosquito for example and you are ready to go!

New Zonker Muddler

This a kind of pimped Muddler Minnow. I use a piece of zonker stripe for the tail, some fancy dubbing mixed with flash dubbing, krinkle flash, a deer hair muddler head, funky eyes and and a heavy tungsten bead to get it down to the predators. One of my absolut favorite streamer pattern for trout and seatrout!

 

Missing Link

Missing Link – Everything comes together:

Rabbit Stripe, Articulated Shank, Krinkle Flash, Crazy Legs, Ostrich, SLF+Flash-Dubbing, Arctic Fox, Deerhair-Head and nice Eyes.

Great Dubbing Mixes In 30 Seconds

Here is a super easy and fast way to mix dubbings. You only need the dubbings, a wire brush for pets and a dubbing neddle.

Here are the dubbings I choose for this demo. Two bright colors and flash dubbing.

Make a sandwich out of the three dubbings.

Take the dubbing sandwich and stroke it into the wire brush.

Take your dubbing needle to pull the dubbing out of the brush.

Here is the first result after the first round. Looks nice! If you want the dubbing do be better mixed, go for another round on the brush.

Here is the result after the second round on the wire brush.

Finally the result after the third turn on the brush. Super mixed two toned dubbing with flash highlights in less than 30 seconds!  What could be more easy?

tl

Holger Lachmann

….big is beautiful…

After tying some flies for grayling in size 18 & 20 I decided to tie two pike flies on Partridge Predator hooks size 4/0 as an equalization….one very colorful, the other one in muted colors….

Tied mainly with rabbit stripes and arctic fox.

 

Easy Pike Zonker Step By Step

One of my most fished patterns for pike. It’s easy to tie, very durable, you can tie it in the length you want and it wiggles nice through the water. You can also use arctic fox for the front collar instead of finn raccoon. Works well, too.

Materials: 

  • Hook: Gamakatsu F 314 # 1/0
  • Ribbing: Mono
  • Body: Ice Dub Holographic Silver and Ice Dub Pearl mixed together
  • Wing/Tail: Finn Raccoon
  • Flash: Gliss’n Glow Pearl, Krinkle Mirror Flash Pearl and Lateral Scale Pearl
  • Front Collar: Finn Raccoon or Arctic Fox
  • Hot Point: Fluo Thread
  • Eyes: Deer Creek
  • Head: Bug Bond

Tie in a piece of mono for the ribbing and mix ice dub pearl and ice dub holographic silver. Then split the thread and put the dubbing mix into the gap. Spin the bobbin to twist the dubbing. Wind the dubbing hank around the hook shank and give it a good brush with your velcro.

Tie in a piece of finn raccoon zonker 5mm next to the hook eye. Then ribb the raccoon zonker with the mono to secure it on the hook shank and catch the mono with your thread.

Tie in the krinkle mirror flash and the gliss’n glow. Then form a loop with your thread and wax the loop. Put a piece of finn raccoon in the loop and cut away the leather. Twist the loop with the raccoon slowly. When the fur is secured in the loop, wind the raccoon around the shank to the hook eye. Comb the twisted raccoon after every turn.

 

Tie in a strand of lateral scale pearl on each side and split the thread. Put again some dubbing in the gap und twist the bobbin Wind the twisted dubbing around and brush it with your velcro to give the head some extra sparcle.

 

If you like it, you can do a little hot point with some fluo thread. Glue some sexy eyes on the head and secure the head with Bug Bond.

Ready for pike!

tl Holger Lachmann

Articulated Pike Streamer Step By Step

Here’s an example for an articulated pike streamer, which is easy to cast, because we try to create volume without putting to much material into the fly. To much material makes the just inflexible (and expensive ;-) )

I used for this pattern the new articulated shanks from the Flymen Fishing Co. in 35mm to get the right movement and position of the hook.

 

Material:

  • Hook: Gamakatsu SL 12 S # 4/0  (be carefull, they are soooooo sharp!)
  • Articulated Shank: 35mm from Flymen Fishing Co.
  • Tail and Wing: Arctic Fox chartreuse and black
  • Feather: Green Grizzly Hackle
  • Body: Ice Dub Pearl
  • Flash: Krinkle Mirror Flash pearl and Flashabou Mirage Saltwater
  • Eyes: Hareline fluo yellow
  • UV-Resin: Bug Bond

 

Put the hook into the vise, do some turns with your thread and tie in the fox as tail and some strands Flashabou Mirage.

 

Split your tying thread or form a dubbing loop and put the ice dub between and twist it. Then brush it with your velcro and wind it around the hook shank.

 

Tie in some fox with the tips pointing to the hook eye, cut the waste, put again some dubbing between the thread, twist it and wind it to the front. Then go with the thread between the fox hair to the hook eye.

 

Push the fox hair with an empty pen towards the hook bend. Then tie in a green grizzly hackle on each side and some strands of krinkle mirror flash. Whip finish and secure with super glue.

 

Attach the hook with the articulated shank and put the shank into your vise. Then close the gap with a strong thread and super glue (the little pearls on the thread) to fix the hook. This will hold forever!

 

Create another dubbing hank and wind it around to create a little bump. Then tie in a bunch of artic fox on the hook shank and a bunch underneath. Comb the hair carefully. Another dubbing hank will follow.

 

Tie in two green grizzy hackles and some krinkle mirror flash. Then comb a bunch of black arctic fox and tie it in like shown on the picture. Trim away the waste and do some rounds with dubbing and do a quick whip finish secured with super glue.

Push the black fox backwards, attach the eyes and secure the whole head with Bug Bond.

That’s it! Ready to go. Have fun with the pikes!

Holger Lachmann

Quill Body CDC Emerger No. 2 – Step By Step

It’s the end of April and the trout and grayling season will start soon.

Here’s another very good emerger pattern, which imitates some different may fly species, depending on the colour and size. It’s tied on the new Daiichi 1167 Klinkhamer hook, designed by the famous dutch fly tyer Hans van Klinken.

The Daiichi 1167 got a stronger wire compared to the Tiemco 212Y for example, which makes sure, that the abdomen hangs deep in the surface. That’s really important and that’s the reason, why this pattern got no tail or a trailing shuck, to make sure, that the abdomen is hanging deep in the surface.

The quill body is covered with a thin coating UV Resin.

 

Materials:

  • Hook: Daiichi 1167 # 14
  • Abdomen: Polish Quills &Tack Free UV Resin
  • Thorax: Oliver Edwards Master Class Dubbing
  • Wing case: CDC
  • Wing: CDC
  • Legs: Partridge

 

Put the hook into the vise, do a layer of thread and tie in a stripped peacock quill. Wind the quill around the hook shank and catch it with the tying thread.

 

Put a little drop of Tack Free UV Resin on the stripped peacock quill and spread it on the abdomen. Cure it with your UV torch.

 

Tie in two CDC feathers for the wing case. Then tie in the tip of another white CDC feather as a crippled wing.

 

Dub the body and tie in some partridge fibres to imitate the legs. Fold each CDC feather to the hook eye and catch it with the tying thread. The CDC wing should be exactly in the middle of the feathers.

 

Cut the CDC feathers for the wing case and do some turns with your whip finisher to create a little head. Varnish the head, if you like. That’s it, ready for fishing. ;-)

tight lines

Holger Lachmann

A closer look at: Fish Skull by Flymen Fishing Company

 

I tie and fish with Fish Skulls since fall 2011 now. When I first saw them, I wasn’t really sure if I like them or not. They looked very massiv and heavy. I thought they were to heavy for my kind of fishing. I was wrong.

 

 

The Fish Skulls are not made out of tungsten or brass like other metal heads on the market, they are made out of aluminum.The weight of the aluminum is big enough to give the fly a nice jigging effect and bring ít down to the fish, but light enough for easy casting.

You can buy them in different sizes. For my fishing, the small Fish Skulls work great with wide gap hooks like Gamakatsu F 314 # 6 or #4.

 

The biggest weight of the Fish Skulls is on the lower part, which works like a keel, so the fly always swims straight. That’s the reason, why it’s really easy to tie up side down patterns, just switch the head.

great upside down pattern for deep hunting perch

Every package contains 10 Fish Skulls and the eyes, which you just fix with a small spot of super glue on each side. I like to „pimp“ the Fish Skulls with other eyes, like fluo eyes.

It’s easy to tie with the Fish Skulls. Just tie your fly and leave a little space next to the hook eye. Apply a drop of super glue and slip the Fish Skull of the hook eye on the fly. You can create a little „thread dam“ between the Fish Skull and the hook eye, but I think you don’t have to, because the super glue will secure the Fish Skull really tight. Sometimes I like to give the fly a hot spot by using fluo thread for the „thread dam“.

As you already know, I’m a really big fan of zonker stripes, so the first try with Fish Skulls where the combination of zonker stripes and Fish Skulls and it works perfect! I fish them since then in this combination.

I haven’t used the Fish Skulls for seatrout fishing in the Baltic Sea yet, but I think they will work there as good as for my freshwater fishing.

In my opinion, the Fish Skulls are worth to give them a try.

tight lines

Holger Lachmann

Cellphone Shrimp

Last night I wanted to tie a CDC-Shrimp. I’d just done the first few wraps with the tying thread, when my cell was ringing. My buddy Aik was calling. So, what to do? Stop tying? No way! :-) I clamped the cell between my ear and my shoulder and continued tying with this „special“ posture…. When I finished the telephone conversation, the fly was finished too, including the back with Clear Cure Goo.

To be honest, I was concentrated on the call and was wondering, that the fly looked no too bad either. I should always tie without thinking! :-D

 

 

The Soft Brown Grizzly

 

Another all around seatrout fly. This pattern is inspired by the famous fly „Omøborsten“. This fly is mainly tied out of soft Keough grizzly saltwater hackles, which pulsate strongly in the water. I made a little video at the end of the tutorial, where you can get a slightly impression, how the fly mowes in the water.

Materials:

  • Hook: Partridge CS 54 # 6
  • Weight: Lead Wire
  • Tail: Dubbing & Keough Grizzly Saltwater Hackle
  • Ribbing: Mono
  • Body: SLF Dubbing & SLF Prism Dubbing, Keough Grizzly Saltwater Hackle
  • Front: Keough Grizzly Saltwater Hackle
  • Hot Spot: Fluo Thread

 

Wind the lead wire around the front part of the hook and secure it with super glue. Then create a little dubbing ball at the end of the fly.

 

Tie in a really big and soft hackle.

 

Wind the hackle around the hook shank.

 

Tie in some pheasant tippets.

 

Tie in the mono for ribbing. Then split the thread, put the dubbing in the gap and spin the bobbin to twist the thread and the dubbing. Wind the Dubbing around the shank.

 

Tie in another hackle…

 

…wind it towards the end of the fly. Secure the hackle by ribbing the it with the mono. Then brush the body, so the dubbing strands are mixed with the hackle fibres.

 

Tie in another big hackle at the front. This big front hackle pushes the water and creates much turbulance.

 

Create a nice little hot spot with your fluo thread and varnish it. That’s it!

tight lines

Holger Lachmann

click to play the video[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/36655237[/vimeo]

Small Zonker-Baitfish

 

I like….no, I love streamers, which are easy to tie, but they always have to play nicely in the water. Zonker stripes are one of my favorite materials since a long time. It’s durable, easy to tie in and most important, it moves in the water like hell.

This little fellow is only about 5 cm long (less than 2 inches). The front part with dubbing and the eyes is coated with uv-resin, in this case I used Clear Cure Goo (CCG) which works really well. First I used CCG Hydro, which is fluid like water, to fix everything, than CCG Tack Free for the final coating.

It’s an all around baitfish pattern, which can be used for any type of predators. I tie it on a saltwater hook and nip down the barb, when using in freshwater. So I use often the same fly first in spring for seatrout and later in the year for brown trout.

 

Materials:

  • Hook: Gamakatsu SC 15 # 4
  • Weight: Lead Wire
  • Ribbing: Mono
  • Body: SLF Prism Dub in tan
  • Back and Tail: Zonker Stripe
  • Eyes and Head: 3 D Eyes, SLF Prism Dub and Clear Cure Goo

 

Wind the lead wire around the shank and secure it with super glue.

 

Tie in a piece of mono for ribbing.

 

Split the thread, put the SLF Prism Dub in the gap and spin the bobbin to twist the dubbing and the thread.

 

Wind the twisted dubbing around untill you reach the middle of the shank.

 

Tie an piece of zonker stripe.

 

Rib the Zonker with the mono and catch the mono with your thread.

 

Here you can see the nice profile of the zonker.

 

Dub the head in the same way like the body and brush it with your velcro brush.

 

Put some eyes on the head and and secure it with Clear Cure Goo Hydro. Then put a final coating of Clear Cure Goo Tack Free on the head.

 

No bubbles like with epoxy, just clear resin so you can see the hot twinkle of the Prism Dub.

tight lines

Holger Lachmann

Poor Mans Pattegrisen

The famous shrimp fly „Pattegrisen“ is one of the most popular seatrout patterns of the last years for the fly fishermen at the Baltic sea. It’s a very large fly with a great movement in the water. The key-material are Rooster Spey Hackles from Whiting dyed in the colour salmon. The long soft  fibres pulsate, when retrieving with some stops . Lovely!

But there’s a little problem…. the original Whiting Rooster Spey Hackles are expansive. Some years ago you payed about 35,- € for a bronze grade cape, now about 80,- to 90,- €!

That’s the reason I tied the „Poor Mans Pattegrisen“. This pattern is much cheaper, easy to tie and, believe me, it looks really nice in the water! The main ingredient are Whiting HEN Spey Hackles dyed in salmon. They are much cheaper and softer as rooster hackles, but not as long as the original.

Just give the Poor Mans Pattegrisen a try, maybe also in different colours, it’s worth it!

 

Materials:

  • Hook: Partridge CS 54 # 6
  • Weight: Lead Wire
  • Feeler: Whiting Hen Spey Hackles, Fluo Fibre, Krinkle Mirror Flash
  • Ribbing: Mono
  • Eyes: Black Shrimp Eyes
  • Body: Whiting Hen Spey Hackles, Spectra Dubbing
  • Roof: Whiting Hen Spey Hackles
  • Hot Spot: UTC Thread fluo. pink

 

Wind some lead wire around the front part of the hook shank and secure it with super glue.

 

Tie in a spey hackle with the tip first.

 

Wind the hackle towards the hook eye and catch it with your tying thread.

 

Tie some strands of fluo fibre on each side of the feeler.

 

Tie in a strand of krinkle mirror flash on each side and form a little dubbing ball.

 

Tie in the shrimp eyes. The dubbing ball helps to split the eyes nicely.

 

Tie in a piece of mono and a spey hackle.

 

Dub the first part of the body, wind the spey hackle around it and catch it with your thread.

 

Tie in another spey hackle and dub the rest of the body.

 

Wind the hackle around the dubbed body and secure it with your thread, then rib the body with the mono to make it strong and durable.

 

Brush the fly with your velcro brush, so the dubbing fibres are mixed with the hackle fibres.

 

Tie in another spey hackle…

 

… wind it around and secure it with your thread.

 

Take 3-4 spey hackle and equalize the length.

 

Tie in the spey hackles as a roof of the fly.

 

If you want, you can create a little hot spot with fluo tying thread.

 

Varnish the head or put some uv-resin on it. Voilà! The „Poor Mans Pattegrisen“!

tight lines

Holger Lachmann

Quill CDC Emerger

A simple, but quiet effective mayfly emerger.Tie it in different sizes and colours to match the hatch. The body of the emerger should hang deep in the surface. Never put some floatant on the body, only a bit on the thorax and the wings if necessary. With the amount of uv-resin on the quill, you can control, how deep the fly should hang in the surface.

This pattern often made my day, when other patterns were ignored.

Materials:

  • Hook: TMC 212Y # 13
  • Abdomen: Stripped Peacock Quill and UV-Resin (use tack free resin, if not, you have to coat the resin with nail polish)
  • Thorax: Alpaka Dubbing
  • Wings: CDC and for splitting some Yarn

 

Tie in a stripped peacock quill.

 

Wind the stripped quill around the hook shank and catch it with your thread.

 

Put a layer of uv-resin around the quill body to secure it.

 

Tie in a piece of yarn.

 

Tie in a bunch of CDC fibres.

 

Spin the dubbing around the thread.

 

Dub the thorax.

 

Fold the yarn to the front to split the CDC and catch it with your thread.

 

Whip finish the fly and cut the CDC in shape.

 

View from underneath.

tight lines

Holger Lachmann

Biot CDC Parachute

Turkey biots are very good for tying dry fly bodies. They swim really well.

I don’t discribe every tying step here, because they are the same (except the biot abdomen) as you have seen at the quill body CDC parachute tutorial.

Materials:

  • Hook: TMC 100 # 16
  • Tail: Micro Fibetts
  • Abdomen: Turkey Biot
  • Wing: CDC
  • Hackle: Whiting Genetic Dry Fly
  • Thorax: SLF Masterclass

 

tight lines

Holger Lachmann